Leaving NYC

My husband and I are about to head on a little trip..just the two of us.
I feel so lucky, because my husband booked us a weekend away in the hamptons, at a wonderful resort, with an ocean view...aaahhhhhhh

Click on the highlighted links to see our rooms and hotel.

We are staying here

This is our room ...wait for the java to load and watch as it spins a 360 to an ocean view.

Oh and by the way... my husband is a fantastically talented writer.

To read his latest piece, click here

Gotta go!

LETS PLAY CATCH UP !

I have taken on a lot since my last post, so here is an update:

I have started working with Good Shepherd Services in their foster care facility, I only work a few hours a week, but I am loving it.
On Saturdays I am monitoring parental and child visits -- much like the ones Brittany Spears will have to attend-- and on Mondays I am working in the home-finding department re-certifying foster parents and their homes.

And...I am still in school, working toward that nursing degree

I didnt realize how much time all of this would take up, so I applied for (and was offered) a position reviewing books for a romance website. I have agreed to review 6 books a month and I swear of all the things I have taken on, this one takes up most of my time.
The best thing about the review position is the website - which I love- and the other reviewers, not to mention all the free books. Now if only I had 4 more hours in the day, well then I could really get everything done.
The website is nightowlromance.com

Having all of this on my plate has practically eliminated television for me, so thank god for ABC.

I swear abc.com is the best site on the planet.
You dont even have to watch television anymore. All I do is set aside a night ( usually Friday) and then log on and catch up on all my shows.
It is like having Tivo without having to pay for it. There are hardly any commercials, so an hour show takes 45 minutes and you can check you email during commercials. I love it!

Today I have already watched the 2 episodes of Private Practice (my new favorite) I am in the middle of Ugly Betty and planning on watching Desperate housewives next. I plan on making dinner, writing part of a Nutrition paper and all this before my husband gets home at 9pm.

Oh, how I love modern technology...now if I could just add 4 more hours to the day, it would all be perfect.

Fabulous Q&A with a nanny that speaks about American Parenting.
I agree with her 100%

http://local.babble.com/content/articles/columns/5minutetimeout/Claire-Verity/

Spending to impress

My almost-13-year-old charge is about to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah.

In order to escape the outrageous expense and over-the-top celebration that is usually required by Manhattan standards, they decided to celebrate it outside of the city.

What started as an escape from abundance has turned into an extravagant beach party at an exclusive club in the Hamptons.

The expense alone is more than the average person can afford and I am sure it is going to be even more over the top than it would have been in the city. Fortunately for my charge, his parents have really made it all about him and his friends and the people who care about him, but I see his mom battling to keep herself from becoming entwined in the other mothers money games in a race to impress the peerage.

Why do parents spend, literally tens of thousands on this?

Is it mostly to impress their friends?

These Manhattan Bar Mitzvah's are like weddings, when really it should be about the experience. I have on more than one occasion heard many mothers talking about the upcoming celebrations, all of them mentioning the money and the fabulous cost and expense of creating the best they can afford. And nobody wants to be the one not to be able to afford the best of everything!

Its like they are bragging or something. It is quite nauseating to watch and be part of any of their discussions..

At least 10 of my charges friends are celebrating their Bar Mitzvah this year.
Here are some of the comments I have been witness to and part of.

"I am afraid our invitations were too tacky, yes they cost a few thousand, but one still worries about such things"

"I said that I refuse to pay $5000 for flowers, but I can't live without the custom made brown suede sofas"

"This is going to cost more than most weddings"

" .....forget the expense, I want ours to be the best"

"I cant spend enough money on this..."

Oh and it goes on.
And on!

I will be your nanny Charlie Sheen!

Finally, Charlie Sheen says something that makes sense.
Basically, that an Assistant and a Nanny are not the same thing!


“Until I’m granted the ability to hire my own nanny, she is required to provide one and I was terribly insulted that she felt her ‘assistant’ was a suitable replacement. If it’s unfortunate that I’m speaking, it’s ‘unfortunate’ that an incredibly loving and responsible father and his terrifically capable fiancée are being subjected to these transparent and unnecessary sanctions, that have nothing to do with responsible co-parenting and everything to do with punishment and control. As long as I am forced to live under these conditions with my children, people are going to hear about it.”

- Charlie Sheen, in a statement released on Tuesday

found on perezhilton.com

Belated Easter Antics

My husband and I spent Easter in Minnesota. I had such a great time with our niece and nephews: Brock, Brady, Brandt, Bronson and Brandi.

It reminded me of my aupair year in 1999--aaahhh I was a nanny for a week. How I have missed it.
We decorated egg, bunny and chick shaped cookies and made bunny and chick nest cupcakes.

Here are some photographs that exhibit our fabulously fun, activity filled weekend.

Summer Fun

It is coming to the end of the school semester. I have 3 weeks left and then I am on Summer vacation. I cant wait, I already have the sunglasses out, the summer sandals are making a few rare appearances and I am ready for the warm wind to blow out my hair.

I have just signed up for summer classes, I am sure we will still make a few trips out to the beach. I know I will have to work my butt off in school, but the warm weather will make it all worth it.

Ham Steak?

HAM STEAK........
Ever heard of it?

My husband is baffled by me having a name for a large thick slice of ham. I call it and believe it to be, a Ham Steak. He refuses to call it a ham steak. He just wants to call it Ham.
He even called his mother, so that she could verify his claim.
So, yes, I do admit, it is ham, but what about differentiating it from its lunch cousin the sandwich ham, or its holiday sibling the Roast/Hot Ham? How are we to know which ham we are buying, if we don't have different names for different cuts and styles of meat.
Am I wrong here people?

Well, call it what you like my dear, either way, its what you're going to be eating for dinner.

Hot Ham Steak, Tater Tots and Buttered Corn......a dinner fit for a 5 year old.

Enjoy your HAM STEAK my love!

Another day of Spring

Us in Cape Town 2007

It is almost spring vacation and I cant wait.
I started packing for our trip weeks ago..I do that.
I get ahead of myself and now I realize that I can't remember what I packed and I have to repack the entire suitcase as well as consulting weatherbug.com for the Spring the forecast.

Life is good right now.
Exams are over, vacation is on its way and my husband is, as always: delicious.
He is such a good man that sometimes I have to pinch myself, just to make sure that I am not dreaming.
A few things are going on right now.
Because Spring is here and I am feeling bright, I made a colorful list.

• We are getting ready for our trip to Minnesota.


• I bought two fabulous floor lamps at Target...and I have my eye on a brand new sofa..sshhh don't tell my husband, because he really wants a lazy boy. Can you believe that?


• Our accountant is done with our taxes, so we get to sign the papers tomorrow. Money back is always good.


• Shawn, my hubby accepted a full-time job at a magazine, not his dream job, but he appears to be taking one for the team. I guess I should really get him some sort of lazy-boy-style chair after all.


• My father-in-laws birthday is coming up and Shawn and I have gotten him the best present ever. He is going to love it.


• I am trying to make healthy food choices, but often fail....hence my anticipation for our trip to Minnesota and the carb-loading zone of Macaroni Grill.


• It has been 94 days since we left for south Africa and I miss my family. But the good part is that we will go back, just not right now.


• I am tired of blogging now. GOODNIGHT!

SPRING

Today is the first day of Spring.......Yippeeeeeeeeeeee.

I know we were in Africa for most of the dreaded Winter, but since we have been back I felt like Winter would never end.
Finally, the cold will start to subside.

another good part about Spring for me, is all the cleaning. spring cleaning is my favorite activity. Like an early Christmas.

Oh I love it.

I dont have school today, so I am spending this afternoon with my friends 4 year old. I am picking her up from school and we are going out to lunch and then to Diller Quaille school of music.

I cant wait to see her little face.

Nursing Back

I am a terrible blogger because I am working hard at school. Maybe this will help you forgive me for my tardy posts.

YESTERDAY

I met my husband 5 years and 1 day ago.

It was that specific and amazing day, that a hunky, tall, kind, Midwestern boy walked off Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan and into the Alligator Alley Bar and changed my life.

It was the best and most important day of my life.

Hiatus

Thats right.
I hope to be able to post something here and there, but if not, I will only be back to blogging in February.

And I will have lots to say.

Happy holidays and Happy New Year everyone.

Taking in SLOW....

I got a crock Pot.
A slow cooker.
It's Red, and sassy, just like my microwave.
It seriously makes me all warm and fuzzy inside!

I am so domesticated now, that I made a Pot Roast on Wednesday.

It literally took me 15 minutes before school to put it all in the pot.
I went to school and by the time I got home, all I had to do was slice it up and eat it.

My husband loved it and took the leftovers to work the next day.

I can't believe how easy it was.

Tonight Shawn is taking me out for dinner. Then tomorrow I am going to roast a chicken, but Monday, I am going to try to make Pulled Pork sandwiches.
I feel so Midwestern.

Three years ago - when I loved the night life, when I was staying out all night with my friends, arriving home at 4 am and writing in my spare time, who would have thought that down the line I would be celebrating my crock Pot?
Not me, thats for sure!

P.S. I just heard that my father-in-law is wondering why I would use a crock pot when I'm such a great cook (which is true, so true! lol). It's so fast and easy, but most of all I like the idea it's like magic! You don't do a thing. You put a slab of meat in a pot, go away for the day, come home and it's all done and delicious. Magical!

MOLD FREE AT LAST

Our closet is finally mold free.

Thank goodness, because I don't know how much longer I could have slept in the living room.

A few days ago, sleeping on the sofa bed was like participating in the discovery of a new Japanese torture device.

Shawn and I thought we would eventually be able to train ourselves to sleep standing up, because nothing could have been worse than sleeping on that futon.
So, after 2 torturous nights, we moved our bed into the living room and have been sleeping OK, but it feels like we are living in a studio again.

Our apartment looks like a bomb hit it, there is no order at all, we have piles of laundry that need to be sent out, tons of clothes we have to throw away because of the mold and an entire room full of junk that has accumulated from the chaos.
This has been one hectic week, but thankfully tonight...it comes to an end!

We are going to move our bed back into the bedroom tonight. I am supposed to be mopping the bedroom floor right now so we can move the bed back into the room and Shawn has run out to pick up some Caesar Salad and Buffalo Chicken tenders.

We are going to celebrate having our bedroom back, by having an indoor pic-nic on our wonderful bed, in our fabulous bedroom and by watching a sweaty, hunky, somewhat creepy Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 3. - Thank you Netflix!

Smelly Mold!

For two months our neighbors/friends who live in the apartment below us have been having breathing problems, chest pains and wheezing. A few weeks ago, their puppy developed asthma.
Now last week, I have gotten a cold and headaches etc.
Today after our downstairs neighbor told us to look in our closet, I was appalled to find that the back of our closet was wet and yucky.

Its a huge built in closet, and behind all the clothes and shoe racks, it is filled with mold. Apparently there is a leak in the wall and it has dripped down to the apartment below us.
Their closet is an Amazon jungle of mold. We are all sick and panicked, so we called 311 to see if we need the health department to check it out.
Thankfully, our super is sending someone, but who knows how long this has been going on.

Of course it has to happen around Thanksgiving, when we are already in chaos trying to organise a fabulous dinner.

Anyway, I sprayed the mold with bleach, yes, the bleech spray from the post below - I still love it
I think it kills everything, so why not mold too. And now all I can do is wait, and wheeze and cough and hope the mold spores aren't toxic.

Any advice from anyone who has dealt with this before?

Now I have to go empty our closets and throw out all the damaged goods.

Uuggghhh, the life of a New Yorker, if these old buildings could talk, who knows what they would tell us.

Oh, so many excuses

From the sporatic blogging I have done over the past few months, one might assume my blogging quest has fallen by the wayside. But I gaurantee you that it has not. In fact I "think" at many times throughout the day. Juat today as I was walking home from school, I was thinking about so many reasons I have not kept my blog up to date.
here are just a few.

1. College is hectic, tests, classes and chaos
2. Thanksgiving is coming and I am prepping the apartment for our fabulous soiree
3. Our trip to South Arica is just around the corner and I spend every waking moment planning it and deciding what to wear in make-believe situations that just might occur when we get there lol
4. volunteering after college, with the kids for two afternoons, steals a whole two days of my week
5. I am trying to get into a fitness regimen. I am still in the sitting on the sofa and thinking about it, rather than doing it phase, but I working on it.
6. I am lazy. right now anyway. there, I finally said it. I just cant seem to sit in front of this computer and blog a thing.
7. I read too many blogs, that by the time I finish reading them I am suffering from eye strain and in need of my icy mask.
8. Too many people I know personally read it..yes I am talking about you guys..the parents... so I limit the juicy sex gossip....which leads to posts about cleaning and lists about why I dont blog.
9. When I am online I am playing scrabble. I have become a word junkie. Actually, I am trying to prep myself for what I am sure is going to be a scrabble war between us and my parents in south Africa. they are scrabble nuts and know something like 100 2 letter words that dont make sense.
10. 
    

Cape Town Here we come!

Shawn and I are planning our trip to the mother city of Cape Town, South Africa.
We are about to buy our tickets and I am so excited, I could puke.

We are planning to leave Saturday the 23rd of December and stay until the last week of January. That's 5 or more weeks!

Thankfully I get the entire January off from College, which means we get to spend Christmas, New Years Eve and a whole lot of weeks on the beach, sunning ourselves.
But best of all, we get to see my family and relax a bit.

I am trying to put up a time zone counter for Cape Town and a Countdown clock in my link section. Its all I know how to do, but if anyone knows how to add a graphic counter, please email me.

I cant wait.
I am going to start packing tonight.

OK, don't tell anyone, but I have already started packing...
I know we have 2 months to wait, but you can never be too prepared.

"I'm not running anymore"

I spent the day walking and wondering around the streets of Upper Manhattan, enjoying the greenery and fresh air.
Somehow, I ended up at a huge Jennifer Convertible's showroom. The smell of leather couches romanced me into entering.
I spent ages gazing at the prices and eventually found myself lounging around on the gorgeous furniture in the clearance section. I ended up becoming friendly with the manager, who hates her job and is at the end of her rope.
We spoke abut life, money and crappy jobs.
Her name is Joanne, and she is fabulous.

As part of her exit, she is clearing out the showroom and literally offered me 50% off the clearance price. You have to love bitter sales people with 2 weeks left at their awful job.
I am going back tomorrow to finalize my sale......Now I just have to talk to my hubby about forking over the cash first.

After leaving the showroom I walked to Broadway where I bought a juicy yellow mango on a stick from a lovely Dominican woman. She cut and peeled the mango into a flower shape with edible petals and attatched it to a long skewer stick.
I munched my mango while waiting for the bus.

Upon arriving at home I was in a crafty and bloggy, happy, dipsy and musical mood.
I blame the fresh mango.

So I blog this, while listening to John Mellancamp's greatest hits....... And ofcourse, I am waiting for my glue gun to heat up.

I am crafting fancy, ribbon hairclips for a crafty swap. They are going to be beautiful!

Oops, gotta go!
The glue gun is ready and John is singing for me to dance naked!

East vs. West

From what I have heard and what I have seen, the mothers and the nannies on the East Side are VERY different than those on the West Side.

Let me know if I am wrong.

-The mothers "job" is to look stunning and make herself available for charity functions
- The cook, the cleaner and the laundress are 3 differant people, all from other countries.
- The other nanny also sounds Brittish( yes there are 2 of you)
- The mother calls you her nanny and isnt ashamed to say that you work 24 hrs/6 days a week.
- There is a computer in the kitchen, for recipes and cleaning tips for the staff.
- They have an elevator in their appartment
- Their staff shops at Citerella
- They have two, side by side dishwashers.
- They never mention money
- They talk about you as if you weren't there
- They eat raw food, fresh veg and sometimes yoghurt
- They are always on a diet.

WEST SIDE:

- The mother works, and if not, her "job" is checking her email.
- The cook, the cleaner and the laundress is the same person from an impoverished country.
- You are the only nanny
- The mother refers to you as the babysitter, implying that you only work part-time.
- There is a file of epicurious recipes and every cookbook imaginable on the kitchen shelves .
- They live in a 5th floor walk-up or a 4 story brownstone with no elevator.
- They order from Fresh direct or shop at Fairway.
- You are the dishwasher
- They always talk about how expensive things (including you) are
- They talk about you behind your back
- They eat whole grains, tofu, fondue and pasta
- They are always on a diet.